Democratic Alternative of Macedonia

The Democratic Alternative (DA) is a centrist political party in Macedonia, founded by Vasil Tupurkovski in March 1998. From 1998 to 2000, the DA took part in a coalition government with the VMRO-DPMNE, and it controversially recognized Taiwan instead of the People's Republic of China in an attempt to gain foreign investment. However, in 2002, the DA reversed its decision, and the China fiasco led to the DA losing its political future.